As of: February 28, 2024, 12:05 p.m
By: Stephanie Munk
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Scholz does not want to deliver Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine.
An expert interviewed by IPPEN.MEDIA sees his reasoning as an excuse - and suspects other motives.
Berlin - Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz has once again sealed his reputation as a ditherer when it comes to Ukraine support: The German Chancellor sticks to his no to Taurus deliveries in the Ukraine war.
Scholz explained that the risk of Germany becoming a party to the war is too high.
Because in order to be able to use the highly complex Taurus cruise missiles, Ukraine is dependent on the help of German soldiers.
For example, they would have to enter target data.
No Taurus for Ukraine: Chancellor Olaf Scholz has made a decision.
© Imago (montage)
Criticism of Scholz because of Taurus no: Hofreiter calls argument “obviously wrong”
Not everyone can understand this argument.
Some even think it's complete nonsense.
Green Party politician Anton Hofreiter claimed on Tuesday evening (February 27) in the “heute journal” that Scholz’s reasons were “obviously wrong”.
Scholz's no to Taurus deliveries was "a gesture of weakness" towards Russian President Vladimir Putin and "directly an invitation to attack other countries."
Many experts also dispute the automatism cited by Scholz that German soldiers would be involved in Taurus deliveries.
The President of the Bundeswehr Reservist Association, Patrick Sensburg, told the
editorial network Germany
: “The Ukrainians are very good and capable of learning new weapon systems.”
Taurus in Ukraine: Does Scholz want to prevent know-how from being passed on?
But maybe Scholz wants to prevent exactly that?
At least this is what security expert Ulf Steindl from the “Austria Institute for European and Security Policy” suspects.
Scholz's justification that German soldiers would have to help operate the Taurus directly in Ukraine also seems like an "excuse" to him, he said in an interview with
Merkur.de
from IPPEN.MEDIA.
But Scholz could have other reasons why he doesn't want to deliver Taurus.
On the one hand, according to the political scientist, Scholz's thought could be: "Do we want to give Ukraine the know-how to operate and program Taurus?" Because this would give Ukraine considerable technical insight into the highly complex and far-reaching weapon system and enable it to To put it simply – to copy it.
“I suspect that Germany is not prepared to simply give this technology away,” said Steindl.
Defense expert Ulf Steindl from the “Austria Institute for European and Security Policy”.
© Private
Scholz is probably put off by Putin's possible reaction to Taurus deliveries
On the other hand, Scholz is probably deterred by a possible reaction from Russia: Taurus cruise missiles are the ideal weapon to destroy the Kerch Bridge, which connects the Crimean peninsula with the Russian mainland.
“That would be a massive blow against Russia and of course people are afraid of a reaction,” said the expert on European security policy.
Taurus missiles are also the ideal weapon for destroying “hardened targets within Russia”.
“There are also great fears of a Russian reaction,” said Steindl.
Taurus cruise missiles can hit targets more than 500 kilometers very precisely.
This makes them superior to the “Storm Shadow” and “Scalp” missiles that Great Britain and France supplied in the Ukraine war.
These have a range of around 250 kilometers.
No Taurus cruise missiles for Ukraine – expert: “Scholz is right”
Taurus rockets would also only fly at treetop height and independently follow the course of the terrain.
This means they can evade enemy radar detection, as former Colonel Ralph Thiele writes in a guest article for
Focus
.
In addition, the Taurus has the “heaviest warhead among Western systems in the same category and it also has the greater thrust.”
In his guest article on Olaf Scholz's no vote, the former colonel explains: “The Chancellor is right.” German soldiers would have to support Ukraine in Taurus attacks “either on site or from a distance,” because this requires “specialists who have been trained for many years.”
In addition, the German army must hand over “top secret data libraries with electronic identifiers of enemy defense systems” to Ukraine.
Scholz says no to Taurus delivery - controversial decision in the traffic light coalition
Scholz is obviously not ready for this - he does not want German soldiers to be directly involved in the Ukraine war in any way.
“This clarity is necessary,” he emphasized on Monday (February 26).
He is surprised that many people ignore “whether what we are doing could result in participation in the war, so to speak.”
Scholz's hesitation regarding Taurus deliveries has also long been controversial within the traffic light coalition.
During the corresponding Bundestag debate, FDP defense politician Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann even voted in favor of a Union proposal calling for Taurus deliveries.
A majority of Germans, on the other hand, support the Chancellor's no to Taurus.
Söder criticizes Scholz for saying no to Taurus
Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder criticized the disagreement within the traffic light coalition over the delivery of Taurus.
It makes no sense to publicly rule out the supply of a specific weapon if the West wants to provide Ukraine with as much military support as possible.
“The Taurus is not a nuclear bomb,” said Söder.
While Scholz wants to act very prudently in the Ukraine war, French President Macron rushed ahead on Monday: He loudly considered sending NATO ground troops to Ukraine.
Scholz also struggled hard before he delivered Leopard tanks.
A Ukrainian soldier has now identified a life-threatening weak point in the German tank.
(smu)